1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to error recovery and more particularly relates to dynamic error recovery from design defects in an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
As companies design and produce integrated circuits, they perform extensive simulations and tests to discover and correct defects in the design of the integrated circuit. Because of time and technical constraints, companies place a higher priority on simulating and testing the most frequently occurring system states. In all but the simplest integrated circuits, it is difficult to simulate and test every possible system state and logic path. The solution to one design defect may also cause other errors, which further complicates the simulation and testing process.
The increasing size and complexity of integrated circuits make it even more difficult to discover and correct design defects before the integrated circuit is mass produced. Once the integrated circuit has gone into production, changes in circuit design are costly and can delay the release of any products involving the integrated circuit. The costs become even greater when design defects are found in the field. There is an increasing need for integrated circuits that can recover from design defects at the system level in the field.
Higher simulation and emulation power have helped to increase the effectiveness of early design defect detection and removal, especially in simple integrated circuits. However, the number of logic paths in each integrated circuit has increased so rapidly, that simulating each logic path in a reasonable amount of time and for a reasonable cost has become very difficult. Because of this difficulty, an increasing number of boundary cases and less frequently used logic paths are not simulated or tested before the production and release of an integrated circuit. Often, design defects still exist in the boundary conditions that were never simulated or tested, which are only discovered after production in the field.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method for the recovery from design defects in an integrated circuit. Beneficially, such an apparatus, system, and method would allow an integrated circuit to recover from design defects in the field at the system level.